“If Mike Trout was here, I would recommend a 10-year contract. But for people over 30, I don’t believe it makes sense. I don’t think Hal thinks it makes sense. We were very clear about that.”

I know you’re not supposed to talk about other teams’ players, but this seems like a pretty big overreaction to an off-the-cuff comment. Levine was obviously not trying to signal to Trout and his agents that, hey, if you can only hold out four more years or so, the Yankees will hook you up! He was making up some hypothetical about a young star, and like a lot of people, Mike Trout is the first young star that came to mind.

But I suppose rules are rules. And, of course, no man can say that Major League Baseball does not pursue its investigations with great zeal.

Why have rules if people are going to get all squeamish about enforcing them? This man knows damn well he shouldn’t be discussing another team’s players – especially in the context of what kind of contract he pay him – so what the hell was he doing? He could have easily made the his point in generic terms.